Blazing Saddles: San Diego to (hopefully) St. Augustine: George: Sunday, 17SEP’17

It was a great day to ride a bicycle. A confluence of events made it so. We had fresh legs from our day’s rest. The thermometer cooperated providing us with a balmy high of 91. Funny how that sounds so, ever since I experienced the heat tourniquet known by the epithet Arizona. We had good roads and wide berms. The drivers were uniformly courteous. And Sara was at my elbow as we lopped off the miles. Did I tell you that it was a great day to ride a bicycle?

We pulled onto the route a little after 7:00, having eaten the complimentary breakfast. We had it for two days, so we know the script. It was not long and we were out of town riding on a wonderful cycling road. Our passing at least a hundred riders coming north as we drifted south supports that claim. We even had a few riders pass us by. The riders came in groups of a dozen or so. The road sliced a path through miles of pecan orchards and vineyards. The homes revealed the prosperity of the inhabitants. We even saw a corn field way out here? All of this beauty would have been missed had we used my planned route riding along the Rio Grande River. But the dirt road made me reconsider. I wonder what we missed on “the road not taken?”

At the 22-mile mark we met the Black Oasis, refueled and made an immediate turn onto O’Hara Road, heading east, crossing the Rio Grande, then facing an ominous collection of foothills. Somewhere on this route we had 950 feet to scale, and from the looks of things, we were going to get it all in one bite. I have to tell you that the ride down the backside of that bad boy was payback.

We turned right at the bottom of the hill via a traffic circle of all things. There was nothing around for miles and miles, so some traffic engineer had a great idea? We crossed the border between NM and TX to no particular greeting, unless you consider fixing two flats a greeting? Sara and I simultaneously flatted, she on the rear and I on the front. The ride through El Paso consisted of neighborhoods with corner gas stations and 7-Eleven shops. It was not long that we were traveling through suburbs in its southeast corner. Finally the road got rural before guiding us into Clint, our host town for the night.

A remarkable coincidence occurred to me today. At 9:50 this morning, my brother Bobby sent me an email. He described an extended family situation involving a friend of his (Anthony), and a friend of ours from Akron (Tom). Anthony and Tom through of series of divorces and deaths are stepbrothers. That is my calculation based on the email. Anthony lives in Marfa, TX, our host town on Tuesday. Out of the blue, at 11:01am, Tom called me. I had not spoken with Tom in over a year. I was on the road so I did not answer. When I arrived at the hotel, I knew nothing about the email and had not spoken with Tom. I called Tom and we talked. Then I called my brother. In the course of conversation, I mentioned that Tom C. called me. He was silent for a moment. Then he said, “Read the email I sent you.” I did and I am floored! Remarkable? It is a small world.

We will try to make up for the rest day by turning the next three days of riding into two days. Stay tuned.